This invention relates to methods and apparatus for dehorning cattle and the like, and more particularly relates to power-actuated de-horning apparatus.
It is well known that a cow with horns is a danger not only to personnel which must work with and handle the animal, but that it is also a danger to other cattle occupying the same pen. Consequently, it is conventional practice to remove the horns at an early age, not only to eliminate the aforementioned hazards, but also to render the animal more tractable and thus more acceptable to feed lots, etc.
Various cutting devices have been provided for this purpose, and many are now in use. Most, if not all, such dehorners presently in use, however, are manually actuated by means of a pair of long handles, and therein lies their disadvantage. A cow's horn is difficult to cut under the best circumstances, and thus, the cutters now in use require considerable muscular exertion to operate. For this reason alone, a person operating a manually-actuated de-horner must stop work and rest at frequent intervals, and this is an obvious disadvantage whenever a large number of steers are to be de-horned.
A more serious deficiency with any manually operated de-horner is that the device is large and therefore clumsy to manipulate, and that it is also relatively slow in severing the horn. A steer is ordinarily put under a restraint while being de-horned, of course, but if the operation takes longer than a minimum length of time, the animal will usually become agitated. Accordingly, if the animal moves its head while its horns are being cut, the de-horner may be inadvertently shifted too close to the animal's scalp and this may then cause injury to the steer. In the alternative, the de-horner may be shifted too far from the animal's scalp so as to leave a projecting stub which is almost as dangerous as is the original horn. Furthermore, if the animal abruptly tosses its head while the de-horner is positioned on its horn, the long handles may cause an injury to the operator.
These disadvantages of the prior art are overcome with the present invention, and improved methods and apparatus are hereinafter set forth which comprise a powered de-horner which is not only lighter and therefore easier to manipulate and use, and which also cuts the horn in a fraction of the time required with the use of a manually operated de-horner, but which is also operated with minimum physical effort on the part of the user.